Signature Bank will not handle transactions of less than $100,000 for crypto exchange customers, according to a statement from exchange giant Binance.
Binance said in the statement emailed to CoinDesk that Signature had told the company that it âwould no longer support âany of its crypto exchange customers with buying and selling amounts of less than 100,000 USD as of February 1, 2023,â and that this would be true for âall Signatureâs crypto exchange clients.â
âAs a result, some individual usersâ might not be able to use SWIFT bank transfers to purchase or sell digital assets âwith/for USDâ for smaller amounts.
Binance said that 0.01% of our average monthly users were serviced by Signature Bank, and that it was actively working to find an alternative solution."
The company added that users could continue using their accounts, including "buying and selling crypto using credit or debit cards, using one of the other fiat currencies supported by Binance."
Bloomberg first reported the news.
SWIFT is a global messaging network that allows financial services firms to send and receive money transfer instructions and other information quickly and securely.
In recent weeks, Signature and other financial services firms have beenratcheting backtheir involvement in crypto markets, part of the ongoing fallout from crypto exchange FTXâs implosion and other industry debacles.
In December, Signature, which has been among Wall Streetâs most crypto friendly banks, said it would shrink its deposits tied to cryptocurrencies by $8 billion to $10 billion.
Nearly a quarter of the New York-based bankâs $103 billion in total deposits, or roughly 23.5%, came from the crypto industry as of September 2022. But given the recent âissuesâ in the space, Signature will reduce that amount to under 20% and potentially under 15% eventually, Signature CEO Joseph J. DePaolo said at a New York conference hosted by investment bank Goldman Sachs.
FTX was one of the bankâs clients, although the crypto exchangeâs deposits with Signature amounted to less than 0.1% of the bankâs overall deposits. Still, the relationship between the two caused Signatureâs shares to drop almost 20% in November.